Automatic carton feeder



Oct. 11, 1955 J. L. FERGUSON AUTOMATIC CARTON FEEDER Original Filed March 29. 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 11, 1955 J. FERGUSON 2,720,394

AUTOMATIC CARTON FEEDER Original Filed March 29, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllll Oct. 11, 1955 J. 1.. FERGUSON 2,720,394

AUTOMATIC CARTON FEEDER Original Filed March 29,1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent T AUTOMATIC CARTON FEEDER John L. Ferguson, Joliet, IlL, assignor to J. L. Ferguson Company, Joliet, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application March 29, 1946, Serial No. 658,001, now Patent No. 2,573,324, dated October 30, 1951. Divided and this application April 13, 1951, Serial No. 220,941

2 Claims. (Cl. 271-62) This invention relates to carton-feeding apparatus of the character illustrated in Ferguson United States Letters Patent No. 2,016,814 (assigned to the same assignee as the instant application) and has for its object the provision of automatically operated safety mechanisms which positively prevent certain shortcomings which have been found to exist in the operation of the apparatus of said patent.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 658,001, filed March 29, 1946, for Automatic Carton Feeder, now Patent No. 2,573,324.

Apparatus of this character squares out flattened carton blanks and positions said squared-out cartons with both ends thereof open on a holding block. The holding block is progressed beneath mechanism for sealing the flaps on one end and the thus-far-completed cartons are then filled as desired.

The present invention contemplates certain improvements in such carton-handling machine to the end that the mechanism which feeds the unopened cartons to the opening device is automatically so controlled that breakage or failure thereof under extraordinary conditions is prevented.

The advantages of the above outlined mechanisms and the manner in which they are combined in a carton-feeding apparatus to produce the indicated results will be more fully hereinafter discussed in connection with a description of an apparatus embodying said mechanisms, the latter being illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the following description of the hereinafter claimed invention, only so much of the apparatus has been illustrated as will be necessary to understand the relationship of the mechanisms comprising such improvements when incorporated in a machine of the character shown in Patent No. 2,016,814. In other words, it has not been deemed necessary fully to illustrate all of the connecting portions of the apparatus as a Whole. Patent No. 2,016,814 is made part hereof by reference and should be read in connection with the present specification. As a matter of fact, where necessary, the apparatus of Patent No. 2,016,814 has been referred to by figure number and numeral so that the area within which the inventions herein described and claimed are used will be fully understood. Therefore, it is intended that if any question arises as to the operation of the machine (in which the herein described improvements are used) as a whole, reference shall be had to the specification and drawings of said Patent No. 2,016,814. With the foregoing in view, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the carton magazinc and the mechanism for feeding cartons therefrom in an apparatus similar to that shown in perspective in Fig. 1 of Patent No. 2,016,814.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

, 2,720,394 Patented Get. 11, 1955 Fig. 3 is an end (from the right side) elevational view of the structure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of certain critical elements of the Fig. 1 structure; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of certain declutching elements in the Fig. 1 structure.

With the basic structure of above referred to Patent No. 2,016,814 in mind, one improvement embodies means for preventing carton pusher plates 21 from destructively engaging vertical members 22 when the chains (all as fully described in said patent) have so advanced the pusher-plates that the supply of cartons between the righthand pusher-plate 21 and the take-off mechanism (see patent) at the right-hand end of the magazine is almost exhausted. While, as described in said patent, it is intended that an attendant shall observe the possibility of the near-future exhaustion of the carton supply, stop the operating machinery, and renew the supply of carton blanks, nevertheless the automatic features of these machines have not been fully effective because of the possibility that said attendant will not make the necessary observation. If he does not so do, then the bracket 21a upon which the pusher-plates are mounted will be forced positively against the vertical members 22 with consequent damage to the machine parts.

The herein described and claimed apparatus includes an arm 23 against which the portion 21b of the pusherplate carrying bracket contacts a predetermined time before said bracket engages the vertical members 22. A pair of said members 23 is provided, one on each side of the machine, thereby to provide that the alternate pusher-plate carrying brackets (see Patent No. 2,016,814) shall be properly obstructed to suspend the machine operation and the positive forward drive of the chains carrying the cartons and the pusher-plate bracket, before the latter shall destructively engage portions of the machine, due to the near exhaustion of the carton blank supply as above discussed. The arms 23 are mounted on a shaft 24 journaled in members 24-24' desirably secured to the under bed plate portion of the carton supply container.

At the near side of the machine, an arm 25 is keyed to the shaft 24 and oscillates with said shaft as the latter is turned by contact of one or the other of bracket parts 21b against the upper end of one or the other of arms 23. Oscillatory shaft 26 extends across underneath the mechanism, being journaled in properly positioned journals secured to the frame of the machine. A short arm 27 is mounted on said shaft 26 in position to be slidably engaged by arm 25, so that when the latter is rotated in clockwise direction following the conditions hereinbefore described, the shaft 26 will be turned in a counterclockwise direction.

A hand lever 28 carrying a weight 29 at its outer end is also .fixed to the end of the shaft 26. The weight 29 on the outer end of the lever 28 insures that the shaft 26 shall remain in either an on or off position according to the operation of the hereinabove described instrumentalities when said shaft is moved to either of said positions. A stop finger 28a, movable between stops 28b and 280 limits the oscillatory movement of shaft 26.

Declutching member 30 is so mounted on shaft 26 that, upon movement of said shaft in a counterclockwise direction, said member 30 is moved in front of a clutch dog 31. Said dog 31 is part of the usual clutch mechanism 32 (not necessary herein to be described) whereby a vertical shaft 33 is normally rotated by the combined action of said clutch and sprocket 34. The sprocket 34 is engaged by chain 35 extending from the other rotating assemblies of Patent No. 2,016,814 to be constantly rotated along with said other rotating assemblies driven by the continuous chain and described in said patent.

However, when the carton blank supply is about to be exhausted and the bracket 21a (particularly part 21b thereof) threatens to be destructively positively forced against vertical members 22, it is desired that the stepby-step feed of the pusher-plates 21 cease. The step-bystep progression of said plates 21 is accomplished by a ratchet device 36 which cooperates with the carton magazine chain driving sprockets 37, this movement being similar to that described in Patent No. 2,016,814. It is accordingly not deemed necessary fully to describe all of the mechanism whereby this step-by-step progression of the chains carrying the cartons and the carton pusherplates is accomplished. However, the shaft 33 has mounted thereupon a crank arm 38 which rotates, with said shaft to move link or connecting arm 39. An oscillating crank arm 40 is secured to the end of the link 39 and its oscillating motion is communicated, through vertical shaft 41, to bevel gear and pinion connection 42, so to move said ratchet device 36 and its indicated associated intermittent driving mechanism ultimately to produce the step-by-step carton magazine chain motion comparably to the manner in which the mechanism best shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5 of Patent No. 2,016,814 produced the same chain drive. It is not thought necessary to elaborate on said mechanism since the hereinafter claimed invention resides particularly in the manner in which arms 23, 25, 27, shaft 26 and declutching member 30 eventuate the stoppage of the carton-feeding mechanism under the conditions hereinbefore described, i. e. when the bracket part 21b contacts and moves the upper end of arm 23.

As indicated, when the clutch operates to disconnect driving sprocket 34 from the shaft 33, the oscillatory movement of arm 40 ceases. Thereupon arm 28 is thrown from on to off position and the attendant is thereby visually advised concerning the reason for the stoppage of the forward feed of the carton pusher-plates. The weight 29 insures that the shaft 26 shall remain in said position with the member 30 in declutching position until said attendant shall have moved whichever of the plate brackets 21a is contacting the arm 23 rearwardly away from contact with either of said arms 23. Only after he has so done, can the lever 28 be moved by hand to remove the member 30 from in front of member 31 to permit the shaft 33 again to operate the link 39 with ultimate forward step-by-step feeding of the cartons.

Thus a mechanism automatically responsive to the threatened exhaustion of the carton supply back of the furthest-to-the-right pusher-plate 21 is provided to stop the forward feed of said plates until the condition causing the automatic operation is rectified. If the atendant wishes to stop the machine, he can so do by moving the arm 28 from on to off position to effect the same sequence of declutching operations as is secured from the contact of one or the other of the pusher-plate bracket parts 21b with one or the other of the levers 23.

It is not intended that the description heretofore given of the invention and/or the showing thereof set forth in the drawings is limiting in any respect of the monopoly claimed by applicant. It is on the contrary intended that all claims hereinafter allowed, whether made initially or to be added (assuming that they are properly supportable by the drawings and/or specification and/or claims originally made herein), shall be the measure of the scope of the invention herein set forth. Accordingly, and with the foregoing in mind, what'is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is (remembering that claims broader than those now included may hereafter be found properly includable herein):

1. In a carton feeder, a magazine for unopened carton blanks, mechanism for advancing said blanks to a feeding zone including a pair of alternately-operable parallel moving pusher elements, each for advancing a plurality of blanks, drive means therefor, and means responsive to the approach of either of said pusher elements to the feeding zone for stopping said drive means, said latter means comprising an oscillatory shaft having an arm mounted on either end thereof, said arms lying in the path of movement of the respective pushers whereby they may be contacted by said respective pushers, said oscillatory shaft having another arm fixed thereto, an oscillatory declutching shaft arranged to be operated by said last-mentioned arm, and a clutch mechanism operable by said second-mentioned shaft for disconnecting the carton pusher drive means.

2. In a carton feeder, a magazine for unopened carton blanks, mechanism for advancing said blanks to a feeding zone including a pair of alternately-operable parallelmoving pusher elements, each for advancing a plurality of blanks, drive means therefor, and means responsive to the approach of either of said pusher elements to the feeding zone for stopping said drive means, said latter means comprising an oscillatory shaft having an arm mounted on either end thereof, said arms lying in the path of movement of the respective pushers whereby they may be contacted by said respective pushers, said oscillatory shaft having another arm fixed thereto, an oscillatory declutching shaft arranged to be operated by said last-mentioned arm, a clutch mechanism operable by said second-mentioned shaft for disconnecting the carton pusher drive means, and a manually operable control lever secured to one end of said second-mentioned shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,627,015 Davidson May 3, 1927 2,016,814 Ferguson Oct. 8, 1935 2,235,844 Nelson Mar. 25, 1941 2,291,010 Vergobbi July 28, 1942 2,573,324 Ferguson Oct. 30, 1951 

